A local gun shop was working on my shotgun and when I tried to pick it up they were never open. Saturday I saw them in the legals of the local paper as losing all the property to the bank, shop and personal. What do I do to get my gun back? Call the bank? It wasnt a high end gun but it is mine.
Gun Shop Kept My Gun
- Thread starter quick68
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Aguila Blanca
Member
It's a gun. Call the BATFE.
Talon
Member
And prepare for a LONG wait. 
Talon
Member
I'd start with the bank and then the local police though.
Aguila Blanca
Member
The problem is that many banks and some police departments are anti-gun. Granted, this is a shotgun and not an evil handgun, but it is a gun. When the shop received it, it was supposed to be entered into the shops records. If the shop is now defunct, those records should now be in the posession of the BATFE. Perhaps the guns are, as well.
The BATFE is the agency charged (or self-appointed, doesn't matter in this case) with tracking firearms. Why not give them something useful to do with all that paper? It seems to me they are a lot better equipped to reunite guns with their legal owners than banks. The bank doesn't have an FFL -- how are they going to give your gun back to you even if they acknowledge that it's yours?
2nd Amendment
member
Creditors don't get to just keep "whatever they find". Notify the bank, provide them the serial number and the paperwork(I assume) you got when you took the shotty in for service. If they give any flack politely inform them you are calling the county sheriff and ATF in "x" days and they can all have a nice pow-wow then. You'll get it back, but it may not be particularly quickly.
jefnvk
Member
I can't believe that they lost everything in an instance and they didn't call you. THat would sure tick me off, that I didn't even get a fiendly 'hey, we are going out of business, please come get your gun' :banghead:
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
I'd call the local police, the B.A.T.F.E., and the bank in that order.
sturmruger
Member
If you dropped it off to have some work done on it. Most reputable gunsmiths will track your firearm in a differant book then they track firearms transactions. Hopefully someone at the bank has the records needed to get the guns in the shop back to their rightfull owners.
Pilgrim
Member
If the bank seized the property as a result of a court action, you should be entitled to file a third party claim for your property. The notice in the newspaper should explain how to accomplish this.
Pilgrim
Pilgrim
Mark in California
Member
Uniform Commerical Code
The gun smith did not keep your gun. It was taken from him by the creditors. The creditors went to court to seek repayments of debt. As wrong as it sounds, all items of value within the business are assets and can be used to pay off debts. Alas, the creditors, with court order can and do give legal title to assets to new buyers. At this point you are dealing with trying to get your title restored to you.
The best you can hope is the bank will work with you. Ask to see someone in charge, bring your paperwork and maybe they will return your propert to you. Do not argue with a underling. They can only say no. You must talk to someone who had the authority to say yes.
If not, you will probley have to stand behind the creditors in line to claim any "extra" money is realized.
The gun smith did not keep your gun. It was taken from him by the creditors. The creditors went to court to seek repayments of debt. As wrong as it sounds, all items of value within the business are assets and can be used to pay off debts. Alas, the creditors, with court order can and do give legal title to assets to new buyers. At this point you are dealing with trying to get your title restored to you.
The best you can hope is the bank will work with you. Ask to see someone in charge, bring your paperwork and maybe they will return your propert to you. Do not argue with a underling. They can only say no. You must talk to someone who had the authority to say yes.
If not, you will probley have to stand behind the creditors in line to claim any "extra" money is realized.
HighVelocity
Member
What about reporting it stolen? Afterall, that's basically what happened since you gave it to the gunsmith in good faith and now it's gone.
Bank has nothing to do with this. Dont bother them.
My wife works for a bankruptcy trustee. They had a case just like this involving a jewelry store, including items that had been taken in for repair.
Find the name of the bankruptcy trustee on the notice and call them. You will need to file a "proof of claim" with them. Send them a copy of your claim ticket and a letter describing the property. You should get it back but dont plan to go shooting with it any time soon.
My wife works for a bankruptcy trustee. They had a case just like this involving a jewelry store, including items that had been taken in for repair.
Find the name of the bankruptcy trustee on the notice and call them. You will need to file a "proof of claim" with them. Send them a copy of your claim ticket and a letter describing the property. You should get it back but dont plan to go shooting with it any time soon.
Jim Diver
Member
Just a reminder. Keep a log of who you talked to, when, for how long, and what you discussed. Follow up phone conversations with registered letters. Document. Document. Document.
Check the white pages for your smith and see if you can get his version of whats going on.
Check the white pages for your smith and see if you can get his version of whats going on.
Aguila Blanca
Member
This applies to any stock and merchandise of the merchant/business, but the business's bankruptcy does NOT give the bank or the cridotors any rights to possess or to transfer property of other parties that may have been on the premises for service or repair.
answerguy
Member
I predict there will be a happy ending to this story. Our shotgun owner just needs to talk to the right person to get his gun back.
Please let us know the outcome.
Please let us know the outcome.
bubbygator
Member
I still think BATF has to be involved somehow. Guns aren't jewelry; BATF isn't going to relinquish it's responsibility just because someone went bankrupt. I guess my thinking applies more to guns in the store's inventory rather than repair work, but it seems to me there should be a BATF transfer form (as a sale at bankruptcy value?) from the bankrupt dealer to the organization responsible for handling the bankruptcy.
I thinkk the law carves out exceptions for bankruptcies like this. I know the agent my wife's boss uses just recently seized and sold assets of a gun shop. I know there are exceptions for real estate where the trustee can sell the property even without a real estate license.
George S.
Member
If the shop has done any work on the gun, you may be liable for the amount that would have been billed at the time of closing. That payment would be applied against the property or business.
Private property that was there at the time of closing should be returned at some point and it's between you and the creditors who closed the shop. There is no involvement with the BATF at all; no sale was involved and the shop's responsibility was for repair and of course the security of the gun while it was on the premises. The police have no reason to be involved unless a crime was committed that directly resulted in the business being closed.
Your best bet is to contact the creditors or leinholder to see what needs to be done to get your shotgun returned in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, if the shop was in the middle of working on it and there were pieces all over a bench, that's the way you wil get it back.
Private property that was there at the time of closing should be returned at some point and it's between you and the creditors who closed the shop. There is no involvement with the BATF at all; no sale was involved and the shop's responsibility was for repair and of course the security of the gun while it was on the premises. The police have no reason to be involved unless a crime was committed that directly resulted in the business being closed.
Your best bet is to contact the creditors or leinholder to see what needs to be done to get your shotgun returned in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, if the shop was in the middle of working on it and there were pieces all over a bench, that's the way you wil get it back.
fredfellini
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2004
- Messages
- 31
I believe that the Rabbi is correct above in stating that the Bankruptcy Trustee has jurisdiction. You need to pursue your due through the Trustee. I am currently owed about $13,000 from a bankrupt client; I've been waiting almost a year, and expect another one to go.
Look in the phone directory under United State Bankruptcy Court. Go to their office and get the forms, to file your claim against the bankrupt business. You can attached copies of your documentation. If your gun was sold off as assets, you have a valid claim for reimbursement of the value. It's entirely up to the Trustee as to how any remaining "assets" will be disbursed to the creditors.
I know that it doesn't seem right, but these are Big Brothers rules.
Good luck.
Look in the phone directory under United State Bankruptcy Court. Go to their office and get the forms, to file your claim against the bankrupt business. You can attached copies of your documentation. If your gun was sold off as assets, you have a valid claim for reimbursement of the value. It's entirely up to the Trustee as to how any remaining "assets" will be disbursed to the creditors.
I know that it doesn't seem right, but these are Big Brothers rules.
Good luck.
patentnonsense
Member
Some of the advice here is good, but some is wrong. It matters that you had a specific item, with a serial number - if it were just a matter of money owed you that would be a different story. Write the bank, file a stolen property report, and generally make a nuisance of yourself - IN WRITING. The bank has notice that the gun is yours (since they had access to the logbook identifying customers' guns), so they can get into some real trouble if they get too horsey with you. If you find out about a bankruptcy proceeding, file a letter there too. The big danger is not that the lender is trying to screw you, it's more that it's all going to get disposed of quickly, and you'll lose your rights if you don't speak up.
Zundfolge
Member
Why? Unless the gun shop in question is in a different state then quick68 (which it doesn't appear to be) then where is the BATF's jurisdiction?
There's no "interstate traffic of firearms" going on here.
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